


Cycle of Mortality

by DesireeU



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: F/M, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 09:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14668197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesireeU/pseuds/DesireeU
Summary: He had won.Nobody left to oppose him, and the world in crumbles kneeling before him, he thought he had it all.Except for her.And when he finally finds her, she'll keep slipping away from him, again and again.(originally for ZarcRay week, "Immortality" prompt)





	Cycle of Mortality

 

The cruelest thing of all, was to see her wither and die.

 

Back when he had first ascended to godhood, the prospect of eternal life thrilled him: he would have never had to worry about time ever again, he had all of it to himself to do as he pleased, achieve whatever he desired.

 

Ironically, the only thing he truly desired constantly broke and slipped from his hands.

 

Died craving attention and happiness, and reborn suffocating in destruction and loneliness; and in the desolation, he found comfort in her smile.

 

It was laughable, really, how she would smile at him despite  _he_ being the reason she had died in the first place. It wasn’t something he had desired, no; how could he? Immortality came with crystal clear memories, and he would often relish in those spent with  _her_ , back when they were both human,  _both happy_.

 

But then, it had to be her of all people to go and confront him, to try and put an end to his newborn reign. Not only that; it was an attempted end to he, Zarc, himself.

 

In the rage, the will of survival,  _the deep betrayal at her of all people wanting his demise_ , he couldn’t control himself. And in the aftermath, her body laid in his bloody claws, broken almost as much as his heart.

 

Then, years later, she was in front of him,  _alive_ , once again.

 

At that time he didn’t how that was even possible, but it didn’t matter; he was simply happy to see her again and didn’t dare to question that gift of fate. He didn’t think twice before taking her with him in his new castle, and mourned a second time the death of his beloved when he realized that this was a  _kidnapping_ , that she  _didn’t remember_ him and  _hated_ his authority.

 

It could have been a second chance, though; she couldn’t remember him, and that meant she couldn’t remember their final fight, her demise, either.

In his arrogance, Zarc thought she could learn to love him again, and he could live without the burden of guilt.

 

But back then his still new kingdom hadn’t developed much from its initial chaos, and she happened to be part of one of the frequent rebellions. There was no way she could see past the monster everyone thought him to be ( _rightly so_ , perhaps, but just in part; he’d never admit it fully).

 

Ray had always been full of surprises.

 

No matter what her name or status were now, her determination and kind heart were the same, just like her beautiful smile. And after countless nights of stubborn defiance, of whispers with his dragons (another thing of Ray that wouldn’t change), she couldn’t help but the see what little good was left in him, and find his broken, sad self who couldn’t admit he needed help.

 

Something the history books didn’t tell, was that Zarc’s kingdom started changing in better for a single woman.

 

But just as the two were truly warming up to each other and Zarc thought he was regaining his personal inner paradise, one of the many rebellions took his dearest away from him. She, the only one to believe in him, lay once again at his feet, and he understood the irony of fate.

 

That even last time, she was defying him; she was trying to  _save_ him.

 

Save him from the monster he had become, from the cold, raging hearts of those who wouldn’t hesitate to witness his last breath.

 

And the inner monster, in the grief, took the reins once again.

 

He didn’t know how much time passed before coming back to his own senses, before realizing that  _no, this was disgracing to Ray’s sacrifice_ ; that she would have wanted to see improve as a king, as a person. And the healing process began.

 

It must have been a century before he saw Ray’s unmistakably bright eyes again.

 

Zarc had by then lost hope of seeing her ever again, believing the last time a fleeting chance of fate he wouldn’t have the luxury to experience again; yet there she was, impossibly beautiful and  _alive_ before his eyes.

 

Heartbreakingly memoryless as before.

 

This time, he took his time to properly court her, and despite the lack of memories from her previous lives, he was delighted to see she was the same Ray as usual. It didn’t took long for her to become his queen, for the two of them to have children and reign in a period of blissful peace.

 

But he was more than a king; he was a god.

 

An immortal god, but not an all-powerful one, unable to change the heavy mortality of his beloved ones. He didn’t realize it until Ray, ashamed of her withering form, shied away from him.

His reassurances weren’t able to prevent her from taking her own life.

 

The only reasons the inner monster didn’t control him this time were his,  _their_ , children (albeit physically older than himself by now), and the finally blossoming kingdom.

 

It was only the next time they met that he started to notice a pattern.

 

Roughly another century later, he thought to be allucinating when he heard her familiar, gentle voice, singing in his praise from one of the many temples erected to honor his godhood and benevolent kingdom.

 

She was his new priestess.

 

And he was yet another time delighted to see that, despite the new type of upbringing, despite her devotion which made things considerably easier, the fire in her soul was always the same. She was always the same Ray.

 

That wasn’t the only thing he noticed though: her wrist looked eerily barer.

 

He hadn’t noticed it the previous times, too focused in their apocalyptic fight to notice if those damn bracelets were four or three, and when they managed to finally be together during her previous life three or two made little difference to him.

 

But now it was just  _one_ , and the implication sent a chill down his spine.

 

In the feverish search for something,  _anything_ , that could rip the suffocating cloak of mortality off her, he started neglecting his own kingdom.

She was always so beautiful and kind, upholding her role of wife and priestess to protect peace as much as she could. But rumors spread, as quickly as blood spilling on water.

 

 _This was a message from the heavens,_ they’d say,  _that union between a holy priestess and her god was a blasphemy, that she was an heretic and full of sin_.

 

What was most bitter, was the awareness that she had dedicated her life to him, and he couldn’t save a single one of her lives.

 

And there they were, needless to say another century later, and her nude wrist a death sentence.

 

True eternity was reliving the pain.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Was a bit undecided on what to write with this prompt, as Gods and Goddesses AU was also very tempting, but in the end I found the pain of immortality, seeing your beloved ones getting old and dying and the impotence of it all, an interesting choice to write about. I could have probably explored the topic better, but eh, I was kind of pressed for time (in fact, really sorry if this one is very short ;w; ).
> 
> Still, would like to work more on a "what if Zarc won" AU in the future!
> 
> Hope you like it and thanks for reading ♥


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